Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan reprise their roles from the 1998 original, Tucker playing Los Angeles detective Carter and Chan playing Hong Kong detective Lee. This time out, the duo is chasing after counterfeiter Ricky Tan (John Lone) and his triad gang as they launder funny money from Hong Kong to L.A. to Las Vegas.

Not much of a story (one that was written by the genius who also brought us Speed 2:Cruise Control), but that is no big surprise. The story for the first film was pretty weak, and that film made $150 million so why bother writing anything worthwhile for this installment? It merely goes from point A to B to C, using cliché after cliché as it plods along. Brett Ratner, the film's director, doesn't even bother putting forth any effort. Instead of taking this installment in a different direction and trying something new, he goes for the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" method of directing a sequel.

Writing and directing are, of course, not what we go to see a film like this for. We go for stunts, fighting and comedy. Even in these departments though, the movie falls flat on its ass. Jackie Chan's trademark stunts and energetic fight scenes are beginning to look as tired as the man himself (how old is he again?). Chan does try to inject some life into his poorly written character, but it is to no avail. Here is hoping that the proposed sequel to Shanghai Noon gives him more to work with than this film.

As for Tucker, the truth of the matter is neither he nor his material is all that funny. He delivers a few bits of comic gold here and there, but most of his improvised material is just plain mean-spirited and at times, borderline racist. Tucker's character is the "fish out of water" in this film (Carter is vacationing in Hong Kong), allowing for a fair amount of jokes about cultural differences. Unfortunately, he takes almost every stereotype about Asians you can think of and turns it into a punchline. Instead of being funny, Carter (and Tucker) merely comes off as an ignorant American loudmouth in a nice suit.

The appealing supporting cast, which also includes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's Zhang Ziyi as Tan's hit person and Alan King as an American crime boss, are largely wasted. Do, however, keep an eye out for Don Cheadle's funny cameo as one of Carter's informants.

Rush Hour 2 continues the tradition of lame sequels to originals that didn't even warrant a second instalment to begin with. A loud, boring mess that rarely comes to life, this money sponge posing as a movie will no doubt make the millions who enjoyed the first film happy, but not many beyond that.

It wouldn't have taken much to make Rush Hour 2 an agreeable time killer. The slightest bit of ingenuity and effort on the behalf of the cast and crew might have turned this into something along the lines of Lethal Weapon 2: a sequel that lets the audience in on the fun. Instead, it plays like Lethal Weapon 4: a bloated, improvised bore that only cares about taking your money and giving nothing in return.

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from the archive A Prophet Top Films of 2009 FEATURE The Road